Grilled sardines. How to make them in the home oven without odors

How to prepare sardines and avoid odors at home .

This blue fish is a gift from the seas, a real delicacy that we can bring to our table for a very affordable price (except in San Juan ).

He will give us some delicious and very healthy fish recipes . Every year, we remember them by dates of San Juan, the magical night of the arrival of summer , but their fishing season lasts several months. From May to October we can find them fresh in all your trusted fishmongers.

During the fresh sardine season, it is very appetizing to prepare grilled or grilled sardines , although many times we do not do it for fear that the house will smell of cooking.

For this reason, today I am going to give you some tricks so that you can prepare them in the home oven without giving off much odor and we will live with it for several days.

To accompany the roasted sardines I have decided to cook some Galician ‘cachelos’, that is, cook some potatoes without removing the peel.

Preparation of roasted sardines

1. The success of the recipe begins already in the fish shop when it comes to buying them. We will choose very fresh and shiny sardines , with their characteristic silver color.
2. The eyes must not be sunken or yellowish, and must not emit a strong odor, a sign that they have been several days since their arrival at the point of sale.
3. Sardines will taste better if we cook them whole, without gutting, just as they are done on the grill or in the skewers. At the time of eating them, the part of the gut is removed without difficulty, do not worry about it.
4. Roasting sardines is relatively simple and in a matter of 20 minutes we will have them at their point, with no more ingredients than a little coarse salt.
5. We start by preheating the oven. We put it in ‘total heat’ at 220º C, so that it gets a good temperature.
6. As I have put in the ingredients, we will use medium-sized potatoes, so that they are cooked in 20 minutes and we can taste them at the same time as we take the sardines out of the oven.
7. In a large saucepan with water and salt, bring to a boil and add the potatoes, whole and skinned. Depending on the type of potato and the type of pot, they will be ready in more or less time.
8. The estimated time would be between 15-20 minutes. It is best to prick them with a fork or skewer, to check if they are fully cooked. When they are ready, drain them and reserve in a source.

Roast the sardines. Final presentation of roasted sardines

1. While the potatoes are cooking, we are going to roast the sardines. To avoid smells, I am going to recommend a couple of tricks that work for me, but they are not totally foolproof either.
2. They help a lot to reduce the smell, but not 100 percent, that is clear.
3. Directly on the baking sheet, we spread a good amount of extra fat salt (especially for salted fish, not coarse salt) evenly over the entire surface.
4. This salt base will be of great help in reducing the odors of roasting sardines. We place the sardines on top and add the rest of the salt on top.
5. We introduce the tray in the central part of the oven, lower the temperature to 200º C and bake 20 minutes in total. In half the time (10 min.) We turn them over, so that they can be roasted equally.
6. Do it carefully so that your skin does not stick to the tray.
7. We remove from the oven and serve them warm with the ‘cachelos’. To remember the moments of good sardines in the open air, I have also eaten them with a slice of good Galician bread.

Tips for roast sardines

• There, the typical thing is to eat them on a slice of brona or broa bread (with some corn flour) , but for lack of it I have used the excellent Cea Bread , from my land in Ourense. It is a high quality artisan bread, which you have already seen me speak about on many occasions.
• If once the sardines are removed from the oven if you still appreciate the smell in the kitchen, another trick you can use is to put a glass of water on the oven tray. You should also add a few pieces of lemon squeezed with the juice in the water and the pieces in it. With the residual heat, the water will evaporate and counteract the smell of roasted sardines.
• It is a fish that is grouped in large schools, with thousands of specimens. Its habitat is framed in the Atlantic, from Senegal to Norway, and in the Mediterranean, in areas of warm water.
• In Spain we are lucky that they can be fished in all our coastal zone. Its excellent flavor is given by its food, which ranges from small plankton to smaller fish and crustaceans.